Another Nigerian Dies In Ethiopian Prison Over Alleged Poor Medication 6 Months After Death Of Countrywoman In Same Jail
A Nigerian inmate at the Kaliti prison, a maximum-security prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Uchenna Nwanneneme, has died of an undisclosed ailment.
Nwanneneme, who hailed from Anambra State, was among about 300 inmates of Nigerian descent at the Ethiopian prison facility.
They were arrested over allegations of possession of hard drugs and money laundering.
Multiple sources told SaharaReporters that Nwanneneme died on September 21 as a result of poor medication after he took ill.
They described the incident as an effect of corruption and poor state of hygiene and health services in the prison facility.
“He died due to the negligence and corrupt practices of the prison officer. He was sick for some days, but rather than give him immediate medical attention, he was left untreated for several days despite his obvious sickness,” one of the sources told SaharaReporters.
Another source accused Nigerian officials of showing a lack of concern about the welfare of citizens who are inmates in foreign lands.
He subsequently appealed to the new administration led by President Bola Tinubu to come to their rescue, adding that many of them regularly fall ill due to malnourishment.
The inmate appealed to President Tinubu to intervene so that they could be transferred to serve the rest of their jail terms in Nigeria.
Recently, a Nigerian, Chizoba Eze, died in the same Kaliti Prison in Ethiopia following alleged physical aggression.
Multiple sources had told SaharaReporters that Eze was brutalised by policemen in the facility, and died from the injuries inflicted on her.
It was also alleged that her corpse was left inside the cell for over 36 hours by the prison officials who allegedly prevented other inmates from informing the Nigerian embassy about the incident.
“Nigerian woman, Chizoba Favor Eze has been brutalised to death at Kaliti Prison in Ethiopia. She died on March 12, 2023. It’s so sad that the policemen killed our sister. They gave her internal injury on her chest after brutally hitting her on the breasts which led to her death,” a source in the facility had said.
“After a week, she started feeling sick because of the result of the internal injuries she had inside her body. They took her to the hospital for the first time to receive treatment and the doctor gave her an injection and they brought her back to her room.
“The deceased started feeling weak again and they took her to the hospital on Saturday being March 11, 2023, then they brought the same injection which the deceased complained bitterly that the injection was not good for her body. She added that she didn’t want to take any injections again, and they gave her the injection forcefully.
“On Sunday morning, she died. She died inside her room which made the other foreigners, such as Brazilian and Venezuelan women and others feel bad because the injection the deceased took led to her death.
“The foreigners went through the bag of the deceased and took the Nigerian embassy’s telephone number in order to call the embassy, because the deceased person’s body was there with them in the room for over 36 hours. So the foreigners decided to call the embassy of Nigeria to tell them what was happening, but the policewomen did not allow them to call the embassy.”